Author Notes: I got hooked on hot-smoked salmon while living in England where my corner fishmonger sold me some of his personally recommended local stuff. I had to limit myself to buying this only once a week. It was sweet and salty, firm and creamy all at the same time. The “hot” here doesn’t mean spice. It’s the temperature at which the smoking process occurs (between 145-150 degrees Fahrenheit), which fully cooks the fish, giving it a light pink silken internal texture a tawny, smoky skin. I used it in maki rolls, with asparagus and hollandaise and in my daughter’s lunchbox. And I concocted this Asian-inspired noodle salad which has a good contrast of flavor, texture and color.
You may be able to find good hot smoked salmon where you live and by all means use it to make this salad as a very easy, very cool dinner on a hot night. I, unfortunately can’t get my hands on the good stuff in Central PA, so I’ve learned to hot smoke my own salmon for this recipe using a stovetop smoking contraption involving my wok, a bunch of tin foil and the lid of my lobster pot, a trick adeptly demonstrated by former New York Times Magazine food writer and current Chow.com food editor Jill Santopietro. The link to her video is: http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/21/the-memorial-day-cook-smoking-indoors-without-getting-caught/. - cheese1227 - cheese1227

Food52 Review: Smoking sounds so intimidating and time consuming, right? We're here to tell you it's not. You don't even need a stove top smoker. We used Amanda's wok, lined it with foil and set the fish on a round cake rack set above the wood chips. After sealing the wok with more foil, we simply turned on the burner and let it smoke away. (It does help to have a good fan above your stove.) The salmon, which is brined before smoking, emerges from the smoker taut and bronzed, infused with five spice powder, salt, sugar and soy sauce. You can also broil or grill the salmon if you want to skip setting up the smoker -- you just won't get that rich woodsy flavor. Then it's up to you to either leave the salmon whole or break it into bits to mix with soba noodles, tatsoi and a kicky ginger dressing. - A&M - The Editors

Serves 4 for a starter and 2 for a main course

Hot smoked salmon

1/2pound fillet of salmon (I used wild caught sockeye, because the color is lovely.)

1/4cup cup kosher salt

1/3cup turbinado sugar

3tablespoons soy sauce

2teaspoons Chinese Five Spice

Cut salmon fillet lengthwise in two even pieces.

Combine salt, sugar, say sauce and Chinese five spice with 1 quart of warm water and stir until sugar and salt are dissolved. Let fish sit in this brine for one hour at room temperature.

Remove fish from brine, dry it completely and place on a rack. Put rack uncovered in the refrigerator for 12 hours.

Using a stove-top smoker, smoke the salmon for about 8 minutes at a temperature in the range of 145-50 degrees. Allow salmon to cool completely.

Soba noodle salad

8ounces buckwheat soba noodles

Juice of one lemon

4tablespoons Soy Sauce

3tablespoons Mirin

2teaspoons finely grated ginger

2teaspoons white sugar

1teaspoon sesame oil

1/3cup warm water, more if necessary. You want this to be somewhat thin as it’s more of a broth than a dressing.

2cups small tat soi leaves, whole

Prepare the soba noodles as directed on package. Rinse with cold water. Set aside.

Whisk together lemon juice, soy sauce, mirin, ginger, sugar and sesame oil. Add water to desired strength. Toss about half of the dressing with noodles.

Divide tat soi leaves into bowls and mix with the dressed noodles.

Either leave the salmon whole and set it atop the noodles or break it into bite-sized pieces on top of the salad.

Drizzle the remaining dressing over the completed salad and serve immediately.

Made this last night and the wife and kids loved it. Wife said, "This is restaurant quality". Hot smoked the salmon on my grill offsetting the charcoal and a using a chunk of cherry wood. Prep was easy but the flavors were big. Served this close to room temp, but may chill it next time to experience this cold.

Our little town has a new "European-style" market house next to our weekend farmer's market. One of the vendors sells smoked fish and their salmon smoked with Chinese 5-spice and green tea is out of this world! If I'm feeling lazy, I will buy some and try serving it this way. Also, in response to some of the questions about smoking techniques, I have smoked fish and chicken on my electric stovetop using a disposable foil pan (actually, I used 2 to double the thickness), a small cake rack and aluminum foil. This works on a grill, too.

Lucky you!! I was talking with a chef about smoking fish over tea leaves. He tells me that is a Japanese technique. I have to do some research on what kind of tea leaves and how many. If I find that info out, I'll pass it along.

It's a variety of Asian cabbage that is slightly peppery. I get it here in Central PA because it's a hearty spring crop and all the farmers at my market grow it -- and sell it. I've also seen it at Asian groceries. If you can't find it, you could use baby spinach or I've made it with pea shoots as well.

This looks amazing. I logged on this morning to look up the porchetta recipe but couldn't resist the photo and had to check the recipe immediately! Thank you so much, can't wait to try this. Also, just want to say I LOVE Jill Santopietro's little videos - wish she could have her own food show, she's hilarious and informative!

Cannot wait to try this. I've never smoked anything this way, so I'm thrilled to see that it is so easy. (And fortunately, I have a quite powerful hood over my stove.) I cannot believe, sometimes, how much I learn, day to day, just visiting food52! Many thanks to the editors, and to cheese1227 for this amazing recipe. ;o)

You have my vote! The Mandarin Oriental New York makes a very similar dish that is to die for! Their miso glazed salmon with soba noodles is topped with daikon sprouts and shitake mushrooms. It's a really great dish for dinner parties because it's served at room temperature and looses nothing from it.

Thanks for the recipe...I can't afford to spend the money on a dinner out to the Mandarin anytime soon ;) (PS love Jill Santopietro too!)

Thanks. If you watch Jill's video (link posted in the head notes), it doesn't get all that smokey in her apartment. Nor in my kitchen. That is, until you unseal the tin foil. And if you can do that on a window sill or a fire escape, then you could have no need for a good fan.